Electric car heater



Jan. 1, 1929. 1,697,443

G. F. WENNAGEL ET AL ELECTRI C CAR HEATER Filed June 17, 192'.

Patented Jan. 1, 1929.

UNITED STATES GEORGE F. WENNAGEL AND CAR-ROLL THOMAS, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ELECTRIC CAR HEATER.

Application filed June 17, 1927. Serial No. 199,575.

The invention relates to electric car heaters. i v

The pr incipal object of the invention, generally stated, isto provide a novel heater of the electric type adapted particularly for use in connection with and-beneath car seats which extend longitudinally of a car.

An important object of the invention is to provide an electric heater which is adapted to be arrangedvertically beneath the seat to serve as a support therefor and to replace the usual upstanding post provided for the purpose.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide an electric heater which may be constructed or made in the manner set forth in our co-pending application filed of even date 'he'rewi th Serial No. 199,577, th e he'ater moreover preferably enibodying a heating unit Constructed as set forthin our co-pending application of even date herewith Serial No. 199,576, it being conceix ahle, however, that Variations iii these details might be resorted to if preferred for any reason; M I v v A further object ofjth e invention is to provide an electric heater having a safety feature in the nature of a ground connection, the intention being that all of the heaters themselves, regardless of how many may be used in a car, be grounded upon the car truck or other metal perig e as to avoid injury to the passengers in case of a possible short circuit which might develop from some unforeseen cause. i

Still another object of the invention is to provide a heater which is capable of mountingin either selected position by a simple interchange of brackets and which may be in stalled to equal advantage and with practically the same ease on old or new cars inasmuch as no material changes in the car s'tr'rict-ure itself need be made I I N An additional object to provide a heater of this character which inaddition to the above features will be simple and inexpensive to make, positive action, efiicient and durable in service, a'nd a general improvement in the art. I i I v To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects and advantages, the invention preferably consists in the details of construction and the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully described andc'laiihe'd, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

The figure is a vertical sectional View through a portion of a car seat andfloor showing aside elevation of the heater in applied position.

Referring more particularly to the drawing thenumeral 1 designates a portionof a car floor, and 2 represents the car seat, only a fragment thereof being illustrated as such is entirely sufficient to a proper understanding of the invention. In this casethe seat is supposed to be of the longitudinally extending type though it is of course apparent that the heater to be described could be used in association with transverse seats if such should prove to be desirable for any reason. The heater itself is designated as a wl'iole byth'e numeral 3 and is represented as comprising a heating unit 4 located within a radiating member 5, the unit of coiirse including some suitable resistance coil to which current is fed througl'r leads 6. In actual practice, the heating unit 4 maybe embedded within the radiating member 5 as by casting the latter about the fornier, asset forth in our co pending application Serial No. 199,577, and the structure of the itself may be thesame as set forth in our co-pending application Serial No. 199,57 6. The unit itself preferably projects beyond the end of the radiating ii einber, this projecting portion or extension being designated by the numeral 7- and'being utilizedas means for effecting mounting, in a manner to be set forth. The exact detail of construction of the radiating member is perhaps iminaterial but it is disclosed having a series of outstanding vanes or ribs '8 thereon for the purpose of increasing the radiating surface so that a very efiicient heating effect will be obtained. At the end opposite the extension or projection 7 the heating unit t is represented as equipped with a cuff 9 within which may be mounted a suitable instllator through which extend the connections between the leads 6 and theres istance coil. The details in this respect are not illustrated in the p esei'it case for the reason that they are so clearly shown the above mentioned co-pending application Serial no, 199,576.

In order to mount the heater in the verti ca l positionshown, wein'ay inake use of a suitable socket member 10 having an outstanding foot or plate poition .11 secured with respect to the as by boltsli, it being preferable to interpose a sheet or slab 13 of asbestos or other similar heat insulating material between this socket member and the floor. As a matter of fact there is no particular limitation as to the exact structure of the socket member 10 inasmuch as it may be varied within quite wide limits.

It is conceivable that any one of quite a number of possible devices might be provided for mounting or securing the upper end of the heater with respect to the seat 2 but we have shown a socket member 14 let into a suitable opening in the bottom portion of the seat, this socket member being insulated from the wood of the seat as by means of a lining 15 of asbestos or equivalent material.

Clearly, the exact means for securing the socket member to the seat is immaterial but in the present instance it is represented as having an outstanding flange 16 secured to the seat as by screws 17. Obviously, a mounting of this particular type might be replaced by one of another variety of such nature as not to necessitate lifting of'the seat structure to permit installation of the heater. There is such a wide variety of possibilities that to enumerate them would be vsurplusage as the structure illustrated is caso as to permit free passage of air to and from the heater so that there will be a proper circulation and a certain degree of uniformity in the heating effect.

A distinct feature of importance is the protection of the passengers against shock and injury resulting therefrom and for this -reason we have found it advisable to provide means whereby each heater may be grounded to the frame, metal parts or trucks of the car. In carrying this out we provide a conductor 19 for each heater, the conductor being connected with the outer or metal portion thereof in some convenient manner as for instance by means of one of the bolts 12 provided for the purpose of securing the socket member 10 upon the floor.

Obviously, when current is fed to the re sistance coil forming part of the heating unit l, heat will be generated in the well known manner and the radiating member 5 will act to heat the surrounding air. Inasmuch as we have provided a series of vanes or ribs on the radiating member it will be readily apparent that quite a large heated surface will be exposed to the air so that heating thereof will be effected quickly.

When the heater is arranged in vertical position as above described and as shown, it

will be apparent that it will replace the usual upright post, pipe or other similar structure used for the purpose of supporting the with respect to the car floor. The heater thus serves a twofold purpose without adding excessively to the cost of the equipment.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that we have provided a very simply constructed and easily mounted and arranged heater for electric cars and one which in addition to being easy to install will be also highly efiicient and satisfactory in use. The matter of current consumption depends upon the particular character of the heating unit and is of no concern in the present instance. It is really believed that the construction, operation and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art especially when it is realized that the heater may be as easily installed in old cars as in new ones owing to the simple nature of the bracket devices and other mounting means.

While we have shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that the disclosure is merely an exemplification of the principles involved as the right is reserved to make all such changes in the details of construction as will widen the field of utility and increase the adaptability of the device provided such changes constitute no departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described the invention, we

claim:

i 1. In an electric car heater, a radiating member, a heating unit located therewithin, means for mounting the heating unit in vertical position beneath the free edge portion of a seat of the car with the leads thereto extending through the car floor, and a grounded conductor connected with the mounting for one end of the heater, the heater constituting the seat support.

2. In an electric car heater, a vertically arranged radiating member having a heatingunit enclosed therewithin, and means for securing the heater in upright position upon the floor of a car and upon the underside of the car seat, whereby the heater will act as a support for the seat.

3. An electric car heater comprising an upright radiating member having a heating unit located therewithin, the heater being arranged between the car floor and one of the seats and serving as a support for the latter, a socket device mounting the upper end of the heater beneath the car seat, and a socket device mounted on the car floor for securing the lower end of the heater.

4. A combined electric car heater and seat support comprising an upright radiating member having a heating unit located therewithin, the heater being arranged between the car floor and the seats for supporting the latter, a socket device mounting the upper end of the heater beneath the car seat, and a socket device mounted on the car floor for securing the lower end of the heater, said last named socket device having a grounded conductor connected therewith.

5. A combined electric car heater and seat support comprising an elongated metallic heat radiating member having a heating unit embedded therein, the unit having leads brought out through the car floor, the unit having its upper end projecting beyond the radiating member, a socket device mounted on the underside of the car seat for receiving said projecting upper end of the unit, and a socket device mounted upon the car floor and receiving the lower end of the unit.

6. A combined electric car heater and seat mounting comprising a heat radiating member having a heating unit embedded therein, the unit having leads brought out through the car floor, the unit having its upper end projecting beyond the radiating member, a socket device mounted on the underside of the car seat for receiving said projecting upper end of the unit, a socket device mounted upon the car floor and receiving the lower end of the unit, and a wire screen extending vertically between the seat and the car floor opposite the heater.

7. In an electric car, the combination with the floor and a seat, of a vertically arranged heater secured with respect to the floor and the seat to serve as a support for the latter. Y

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

GEORGE F. WENNAGEL. CARROLL THOMAS. 

